bwrosas

#194630 bwrosas youtube videos

Posted by bwrosas on 12 June 2014 - 01:14 PM

Video Review of both Sonic The Hedgehog #260 and #261

Here's my review of the past two issues.

Comments are Welcomed

June 2014 Monthly Opnions of The Sonic The Hedgehog Comic and Franchise :

https://www.youtube....feature=mh_lolz

Best and Worst Story Arcs of Archie's Sonic Comic :

http://anti-archie-s...Worst-458338609

https://www.youtube....feature=mh_lolz

Comments are Welcomed

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#187718 Ben Bates Explains Mecha Sally Design And Sally's Redesign

Posted by bwrosas on 16 December 2013 - 05:47 PM

Ben Bates Explains Mecha Sally design and Sally Redesign :

Mecha Sally

With some recent activity regarding Sally's redesign I thought it might be fun to go through the development process and show some production stuff.

In early 2011 editor Paul Kaminski asked if I would be interested in redesigning Sally and I jumped eagerly at the opportunity. I was intimidated but honored to mess around with such a prominent character.

The idea was to do a three stage process, she would be roboticized, weaponized, and (due to Eggman's tinkering) restored with a new design. At the time I believe the plan was already in motion to do a huge story arc with her, keeping her roboticized until 250 or somewhere around there. I recall thinking it was going to be a year or two with her as a robot, and that it could be pretty cool. Knowing that I was going to do so much with the character right from the start allowed me to make certain design decisions during each stage that would eventually be reflected in her new "normal" design (the closed vest for example).

Stage 1- Roboticization

This is where I spent the least amount of time. The only specific direction I was given was to use Patrick Spaziante's design from the cover of issue 29, which was totally fine with me.

Issue 29 is one of the comic's I purchased as a kid and I recall being bitterly disappointed by her interior design. Spaz's cover made her look cool! I don't recall what the story was about at all, I guess it wasn't very good, but I spent a lot of time admiring that cover.

I wanted to capture its essence as much as possible, but also ensure it fit into the current look and feel of the videogame's visual robotic presentation. I've stated this before, but the videogames are what I like. They're what inspired me to read and eventually draw Sonic comics. I want comics that fit perfectly with the games, and I think all of my design choices and philosophy come from that interest. I don't care what's been done in the comic, or how things look in the comic. It's gotta be like the games!

So decisions had to be made to flesh out this full design-

Removed the tech patterns across her body, along with additional muscular bumps and bits. Too much detail and incongruous with the games.

Removed the shoulder pads. I knew I was going to design a second form of Mecha Sally and those shoulder pads were looking pretty wicked. I wanted to bring those in later to help sell the idea of her upgrade making her tougher.

Solve the problem of her hair. What Spaz drew on the original cover looks neat, but it unfortunately covers the bulk of her hair and just what happens up there. How do those pieces connect and what does it look like as a 3D shape? I drew this a lot, you can see tiny little Sally heads from different views trying to figure out exactly how she works, and eventually managed to get a basic idea for the layered bangs and at least one of Spaz's downward spikes in the back too!

Keep the blue eyes! At least for this form, I think there's something more unsettling about her blue eyes. Like she's so close to being the close friend you've known for the last 15 years, the similarities highlight losing her.

After settling on a general direction, I did the 01 and 02 sketches and sent off to Paul and writer Ian Flynn for review. The only difference between the two is the dark red band of metal at the base of her hair on option 02. Paul and Ian decided to go with 01, but I got really into this band of darker red and brought it back for the weaponized stage, which I'll post later.

I recall Paul wanted to give her thicker thighs and he may have sent a quick doodle my way for the additional metal plates added to her legs in the turnaround at the bottom. It's been two and half years so I can't be certain, but I think that was his idea. If they weren't then I guess I came up with it but either way I liked how weird and slightly difficult they were to draw. I didn't want to just thicken those parts of her legs, I wanted this piece of metal coming off and acting as a type of guard.

Ideas that didn't get used-

Up top in the sketches you can make out a quick doodle where I toyed around with the idea of including an actual saw at the base of her hair. That could have been fun.

Next to the cover for 29, you'll see a doodle for a potential body design with boots that widen at the bottom. I think that looks pretty cool and might have been a good path to go down.

And finally the examples of Mecha Sonic doing wild stuff with his robot mouth. I always liked how imaginative Spaz was and would have loved to see Mecha Sally do more stuff with her mouth.

My favorite details-

The wrist detail from Spaz's original design.

Her little tail spike.

And those buckles(?) on her boots!

Weaponized Mecha Sally

This one took a lot more time and a lot more doodling. When I started the design I didn't know what "weaponizing" her actually meant, all I knew was she transformed into a stronger robot. I suppose I thought there was some very specific plans for what she would do and how it would relate to the story, and those details would eventually influence the design decisions. While I waited to find that out I had a vibe in my mind I wanted to explore, which is what all the top sketches are.

The dark red trim/band around the bottom of her hair with the low pointed bangs gave me an idea to imply the shape as a sort of hat, giving her a potential evil military officer vibe.

Looking through the sketches there I guess I started toying around with a big arm cannon, which looks cool, and it didn't take long to start messing around with a powerful laser cannon inside her head/hair (which I'm happy to say become one of her actual weapons used in the comic).

As you can see in the color sketches, Sally has very few pieces of metal with her fur tone. Knowing that this design would influence her deroboticized design down the road, gave me the opportunity to start familiarizing the reader with a Sally baring less fur.

I sent these ideas off and was given the direction to try a sleeker body design. Editor Paul Kaminski also stated an interest in designing signature weapons for her, and I'm pretty sure he specified the idea of arm blades, which were super tough to figure out!

I wanted something simple, something that could conceivably be used by an actual enemy in the games.  Although it can vary throughout the last twenty years, Sonic badguys usually fall into a fun and cartoony design approach, they attack with lightbulbs or launch spikes at you. More lethal threats tend to be laser beams, missiles, and bombs.

Getting away from Eggman's robots, the character's powers and attacks tend to also be simple and unique. Curling up into balls, or a big hammer, or maybe throwing a giant shuriken. I wanted to bend these arm blades over into that kind of thinking as much as I could. Just because I could do anything I wanted to didn't mean I wanted to go for the easy solutions, I wanted it to fit in and be right.

What would it look like if Metal Sonic had arm blades?

Unfortunately I don't think Metal Sonic's blades would look anything like what I came up with. These are too straightforward, too generic. The energy blades are kind of fun I suppose, but they're still not "there".

I did these drawings two and half years ago, and I can see what I might do differently now to come up with a better idea but I don't want to beat myself up too much about it. I was designing three forms of Sally all at the same time after all, my mind was thinking about a lot of stuff.

So from there I did the turnaround and right at the end Paul had the idea to use power rings as her power source and add a compartment to her back. Her chest is very small and I wasn't sure how big power rings were supposed to be, but you can see my suggested solution if there was a size discrepancy.

To be totally honest, when I was working on the Sonic comics I read every issue to stay up to date but around the time Sally was weaponized I started doing work on Mega Man and then eventually for other comic companies and put the story on hold. I've got all the issues stacked up for any future reference, but I really haven't read anything after issue 232. Was the power ring backpack ever shown in an issue?

Oh yeah, and if you didn't notice her backpack is a slightly modified Dreamcast.

So because I jumped over to Mega Man I never got the chance to draw a Weaponized Mecha Sally story! It was something I really felt I missed out on. Luckily, during the Worlds Collide arc I got to spend at least one little moment with her.

The last few images are some of my favorite stuff, her attacks and powers! It was a pleasant surprise to learn that I could design her weapons. Aside from Pauls suggestion about the arm blades, I thought it would be cool if she used lightning and tried to think what attacks she would have in a game.

The first image is her using a Lightening Shield to block attacks. I don't know if the Lightening Shield has even been used in the comics before, but if not, more game elements added, haha! I thought she could also capture other characters in the shield.

He hasn't posted part 3 yet.

http://benbates.devi...art-1-419696823

http://benbates.devi...art-2-419872316

sally_redesign_part_2_by_benbates-d6xzbj

sally_redesign_part_1_by_benbates-d6xvk5

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#187260 Bwrosas Comic Discussions

Posted by bwrosas on 07 December 2013 - 04:22 PM

https://www.youtube....h?v=V3nYyUXmeJE

December 2013 Monthly Opnions on The Sonic Comic Book and Franchise

Sonic The Hedgehog #255 Review

https://www.youtube....h?v=CokSUnMajME

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#182657 Archie Sonic At Nycc

Posted by bwrosas on 10 October 2013 - 09:11 PM

Spoiler

A Sonic Jump Super Digest issue is humorously discussed as well, written by Flynn and illustrated by Peppers.

19.51

Another Super Special issue featuring a story based on Sonic Dash is revealed to audience surprise. Flynn humorously notes the relative lack of story in Sonic Dash and attempted to “squeeze every bit of pathos out of ‘Sonic goes fast’.”

19.50

The Sonic Super Special series is discussed. Issue 9, featuring Sonic Lost World, is set to come out in November. Sonic Lost World will be featured during Archie’s Comicfest as well.

19.48

Flynn expresses that Shadow Fall is a return to a Shadow-oriented storyline fueled by fan demand. A never-before-seen cover for issue 60 is revealed to a warm reception.

19.47

A four-part series called Shadow Fall is introduced next. Pencil artist Jamal Peppers discusses the series and the enjoyment he gets out of drawing it, especially Shadow. An alternate cover featuring Shadow is revealed to ooh’s from the audience.

19.45

The illustrator’s admires his Chibi-ization of the squid looming in the background of the image.

19.45

A Chibi variant of issue 58 is shown, and the illustrator discusses the difficulty of translating Sonic characters into this super-deformed look.

19.43

The “Pirate Plunder Panic” series of Sonic Universe is shown, which ends at issue 58 of Sonic Universe.

19.42

The panel turns to Sonic Universe, which is becoming Archie’s most successful Sonic spin-off series of all time.

19.42

Uncolored pages from issue 255 are shown as well.

19.41

Exclusive pages from issue 254 are shown.

19.41

According to Flynn, the Freedom Fighters have stopped functioning as a team. It is time to put the team back together and get them back into their old habits. Kaminski notes that Sally Acorn is not metallic this time around.

19.40

Kaminski debuts issue 257, in which the Freedom Fighters return.

19.39

Various comic covers are displayed. Flynn and Kaminski stress that Countdown to Chaos truly is the beginning of a series-altering event.

19.38

Artist Ben Bates did a series of four comic covers that all link together. Kaminski encourages the community to email Archie and request a poster of these covers put together.

19.37

Ian Flynn gives a brief overview of Countdown to Chaos to laughter and applause from the audience. Flynn discusses how the changes in it will have a “huge, definitive effect” on the canon of Sonic going forward.

19.36

Kaminski overviews the basic plot line of the crossover.

19.35

Kaminski thanks the community for supporting the Sonic/Mega Man crossover.

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#181476 The All-New Sonic Comic Universe!

Posted by bwrosas on 17 September 2013 - 10:37 PM

Sure thing. Just in the fact that she looked completely different from her previous version, and it's not a bad idea. I like it far more than the possibility that some have voiced that she was simply gutted and modified. Does that answer your question adequately?

yes. Because what sense does it make for Eggman to modified a power ring, if he has just going to rebuild her from scratch, it doesn't. Glad someone sees where I'm coming from with that theory. Thanks!

Janus likes this

#180768 No One Is Truly Satisfied

Posted by bwrosas on 09 September 2013 - 11:43 AM

9/9/2013 : 9 AM

Let's face facts, no matter what any of the creative staff does on the Sonic comic book at Archie comics. No one is truly satisfied. And there is a number of reasons as to why.

1) You can't do a story arc, no matter how long it could be, without invoking one fanbase because you don't feature their favorite characters or the characters they feel are more established. It's a true fact. Over the past two years, you've had the Saturday morning fans be enraged because the stories were focusing more on the game characters. But on the other hand, you have the game fans enraged with the upcoming Countdown To Chaos arc and in previous issues of the past were the Saturday morning/comic cast were featured more prominently then the game cast. So no matter what this creative staff does, unless they can find a way to balance things out, it's always going to be a no-win situation.

2) Relationships, more importantly romantic relationships, always seem to be the center of controversy, because one fanbase wants Sonic to be with either Amy or Blaze, or Rouge, or even as crazy as it sounds, Elise. While the other fanbase wants Sonic to be together and stay together with Sally. And thus is the reason why when Sonic is placed into what many have dubbed and noticed as a temporary relationship (boyfriend/girlfriend) with Sally. You have the game fanbase totally ticked off at the fact that once again, Sonic/Sally are together as an item, even if it's only temporary. But on the flip side, when someone like Ian Flynn shows/teases hints of possibly Sonic/Amy or any other game girl with Sonic in the comics, you have the Saturday morning/comic fanbase totally ticked off as well as if it was the other way around. Which is why relationships for Sonic to be in, in the comic are not featured as much as they used to be.

But you see, what game core fans just don't understand or refuse to understand and overlook, is the fact that Sally is the default choice. As much as fans want Sonic to be with Amy or maybe even Blaze, they have to understand that because they appear in the games with Sonic, that it would detract from what each other's personality is about. When it comes to Amy, they want Sonic to be in a steady and official relationship with her that no matter what other media focuses on Sonic, that they have to acknowledge Sonic and Amy as the official couple. But again that detracts away from the personality that Sega had given Sonic and that is a personality of being a free spirit and not being held down by anything. Which is why when the Saturday morning cartoon and the comics pair him up with Sally, Sega never really says any thing, because they understand, especially with the help of their representatives that get acknowledged in the credits on the first page of the comics, that pairing Sonic with Sally will not detract away from his personality that they have established for him, because, a) she's not an in game character, yet. ,

even though she's part of the franchise, her relationship with Sonic, is the kind of relationship that can be turned on for as long as it needs to be and turned off for as long as it needs to be.

You take a look at Nintendo for example, you can't tell me that the people at Nintendo don't realize that the fans have acknowledged Mario/Peach and Luigi/Daisy as two individual couples, because they have. The only difference is they don't shove it in our faces. Because they know, that if they were to come out and officially acknowledge those 4 as individual boyfriend/girlfriend couples, that it would detract from what made the characters famous in the first place. Which is why they don't/haven't come out and officially acknowledged it yet. Thus is the reason why Sega has yet and probably never will come out and acknowledge Sonic and Amy or even Sonic and Blaze as official boyfriend/girlfriend couples, is because it would detract away from not only Sonic's established personality of being a free spirit, it would also detract away from the personalities that have been established with Amy and Blaze.

Which again is the reason, even if one does not want to acknowledge it, Sally is the default girlfriend/love instrest of Sonic in the Archie comic books.

3) When one creates or announces that they're going to be doing a long story arc, you have one side that supports them and you have another side that believes it's a big mistake.

When Ian did his long story arc which officially began in 225, and with a few interruptions/crossovers notwithstanding, officially ended in 252. There were some fans that felt he did the best job he could and that he was trying to give us something different and refreshing. On the flipside, you have some that believe that it was entirely a waste of time. That all he was doing was padding on and padding on and padding on, without no real conclusion insight.

And as much as Ian would like to come out and has come out to try to explain the reasoning behind what's going on and even going as far as to admit that the near 25 issue (not counting worlds collide crossover) was even too long for his taste, it seems no matter how you feel about the guy or anyone else that would attempt to do an epic story arc for a very established comic, that there will always be a division amongst the fan's.

4) Finally, we have the redesigns. As I've mentioned in my monthly opinions video for this month, it's not the first time that the Saturday morning cast has been redesigned. You take a look back in 1993 and 1994, as well as you take a look at the original Sonic miniseries comic and the first official 14 issues, and then later on down the line, starting with back stories in issues 17 and 18 as well as in the 48 page comic book special, Sonic In Your Face, as well as down the line in the mid-to late 80s issues with a certain half cybernetic Bunnie and even afterwords in issue 134, we have seen the characters go through a number of redesigns. True, some of the redesigns have been just adding new clothing or making one's hair longer, but we have seen our share of redesigns, even if they were small tweaks here and there.

But when it comes to these new redesigns, which are being introduced in the 20th anniversary year of the comic, once again we have an overall fan base divided. Because you have some that like it, and you have some that don't care for it. Me, I'm fine with it. Because honestly, I don't think it's the redesigns that a lot of fans are worried about, it's more or less what the personalities of the characters of going to be like. Basically will they still be the same? Will they be different? Or will they be tweaked in some areas? You see, that honestly is what I feel fan's who don't like the redesigns all really worried about. Because let's be honest, we all know that those that don't like the redesigns, they will get over them in time, it's more or less of what the personalities of going to be like. Now Ian has said each character will be who they are. For example, Sally will be Sally, or Antoine will be Antoine, Bunnie will be Bunnie, etc..., So for right now as much as people may not want to believe Ian Flynn, we have to take him at his word. Now true, they may, and I say this as a slight possibility, they may tweak just a bit of the personalities on the characters, so that newer fans can relate to them. But like I said, it's a slight possibility.

Overall, no matter how one looks at it, there's no satisfying the overall fan base. The only way it can be satisfied as I mentioned earlier is to find a way to balance everything out. But even then, even if it's a smooth ride from then on, you may and probably still will have a divided fan base no matter what.

And that's all I have to say about that. God bless and take care.

9/9/2013 : 9:52 AM

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#180700 The All-New Sonic Comic Universe!

Posted by bwrosas on 07 September 2013 - 09:47 PM

Wednesday, September 4, 2013, start time : 5:03 PM

This is a review of issues 230 to 247. As you will see in the picture provided or the link to the picture provided, I have finally opened those 17 issues that I had received in the mail, but had yet opened until yesterday.

Now I will say this, as I opened and look through them, I will admit that I had an uneasy feeling when I saw Sally in her robot form, doing and saying things that were not of her character. Now I understand that in the story, she was not in control of her actions. But even still, I could not imagine her doing or saying those things. But again I understand that this was all done to develop her character even more than it had ever been, as well as opened the door for other characters to grab the spotlight and run with it.

As far as Sally's sacrifice went. From what I saw and read, she and Nicole had basically no other option, and from how the scene was written, because she was given a second chance at life, she decided to give that back to the planet that she loves, and to her friends and family that she loves.

As far as her being modified, one of the things I like to look for is the tiniest detail that one might overlook. You see for those that feel that Ian Flynn had the Doctor gut her and basically rebuild her from the ground up, let's just say that my theory on her having weaponized armor welded onto her body, I think can be backed up. You may ask how can it be backed up? Very simple, you see the tools that the Doctor was using, were measuring tools for her arms and her head, and from what I could see and tell, he was measuring her as if he was measuring her for an outfit or a dress. But then it is confirmed even more, when you look at issue 239 or 240, there is a splash panel on top of the other pages of Sally and Amy engaging each other in a fight. And when you look at this splash panel you see Sally's tail sticking out of her backside as if she's wearing a uniform or as I have said before armor. Now one may ask Well what about the laser Cannon in her head?, again look at the littlest detail, she had a connector connecting the laser Cannon to her brain inside, thus proving that there was no brain removal. Another way at proving this theory correct. Is why would Eggman modified a power ring, if he had literally taken her apart and rebuilt her, if he was worried about a regular power ring restoring her free will, he wouldn't.

Now speaking of her free will, issues 237 and mostly 238 Prove to me that Ian Flynn had originally planned on climaxing this story arc at the 250th issue, because when you look at 238 and Sally's confrontation with Tails, you could see bits of Sally coming through, as she gave Tails an option that she did not have to give him if she was fully gone. And when you look at 239 or 240, she could have easily gone to her brother's hut first and foremost, but she saved it for last and when you look at the picture/panel of her looking out the window and saying target lost, you could almost see Sally breaking through because of the possible emotion of sadness seen on her face. Which again tells me that Ian Flynn had originally planned for Sally to regain her free will as the first step and then be restored in 250 as the final step. But unfortunately thanks to some behind-the-scenes shenanigans, plans were altered.

Now I spoke earlier of characters grabbing the spotlight and running with it. Well what surprised me and I'm sure surprised a lot of you, was the fact that we had maybe four characters that you would never have thought of getting the spotlight. Let's take Isabella Mongoose, not only did she become the newest member of the Royal concile, but she was responsible for having that cabinet allow Nicole back into the city. Then we have the pink wolf twins (Lyteea and Lyco) not just getting the spotlight and running with it in 237 and 238, but also in the SU arc about the secret freedom fighters as well as in 240 and 241, and then we have Erma, who in 247 was the only one that could decipher what Silver was talking about, when he revealed Sally as being the traitor. Erma basically said that between Silver's future and their present, that the information might have been lost, and that historians in Silver's time or leading up to it, didn't know that the tratior was working against their will or that the possibility of turning flesh and blood beings into robots even existed. So I do give credit to Ian Flynn on not just giving characters that as many fans have pointed out needed more of the spotlight, but by giving characters we as fans never would have thought of getting the spotlight and having it given to them.

Now as far as the characters acting out of character, I think Ian was trying to put a bit of a reality spin on the situation. In other words when you have so much emotional stress put on you, the last thing you need is for somebody to come out of nowhere and press the wrong emotional button that will set you off and make you act like you normally wouldn't. And that is why a lot of the characters were OOC in this story arc as some fans had pointed out and complained about.

As far as Endangered Species go, in 243 you can see where Ian Flynn was going with it, but as soon as 244 came around you could also see what he had to alter due to the behind-the-scenes shenanigans that were taking place. And if you don't believe me, there is a fan out there that posted some pics of the original draft, picture drafts that is, of what was originally supposed to be drawn and take place.

I will agree on one thing, the advertisements/adaptions based around sporting events and games could have waited or taking place at the appropriate time. Of course I'm talking about issue 242 and Universe issue 45. I agree those could have waited or could have been done at the appropriate times that they needed to be done.

And as far as Worlds Collide goes, I believe you still could have done it, but have it done either in Universe and Mega man or wait until the original story arc that was supposed to climax in 250 is/was over.

Now as far as the retcon goes, it seems Nicole will be the key in everyone except Sonic regaining their memories of the past timeline/past world, and it might even indicate that the events in 252 had occurred perhaps before the Endangered Species arc, which means down the line we may see certain characters returning.

Overall, it has been one heck of a bumpy ride that will either continue to get more bumpier as we head into Countdown to Chaos or will start to smooth out and be a smoothed and enjoyable ride from here on in. We just have to wait and find out.

And that is my review that I promised when this whole story arc began, I promised a review and this is it. Grade wise on this entire story arc, I give it a C+, because I know whither I get along with the guy or not or whither anybody else gets along with Ian or not, they have to admit that he did his damnedest. Despite the fact that there were many alterations and interruptions that had to be made and had taken place.

End of review.

Wednesday, September 4, 2013, End time : 5:48 PM

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#180374 Sth#252/su#55 Preview

Posted by bwrosas on 04 September 2013 - 06:03 PM